Wednesday, June 19, 2013

We should
have posted about last Friday’s recital before the better part of six days had
gone by, but the days were too filled with concerts, exhibition-related
activities, and travel to write about the highlight of our Boston trip.And yes, it was a highlight: the
performance went well, we had a most appreciative audience, and all instrument
makers involved were pleased with the collaboration.

You can
visit the Gamut Music website
to watch a short video taken by Daniel Larson of the opening sections of “The
Ascension.”

Edith had
a grand time visiting the luthiers’ exhibit booths on Saturday to try out their
violins in normal tuning and on other repertoire (Bach and Fontana).Now that she could listen to the
violins without an agenda of matching them to specific pieces, she enjoyed hearing
how much each instrument’s sound had opened up after having been played for a
couple of weeks (and, in some cases, having had slight adjustments).She found herself equally disappointed
and relieved not to be in the market for a new instrument!

One of
the wonderful aspects of Friday’s recital, as well as the previous Saturday’s
in Madison, was the opportunity to feature readings of biblical prophecies
relating to each of the “portraits” in our program—whether predicting the event
itself or sharing an “affect” with the respective partita—and to print the
events’ narratives along with the program notes:

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

When I (Edith) proposed our upcoming demonstration recital to a number of luthiers earlier this spring, one maker who was interested was Francis Beaulieu of Montreal. However, being primarily a viol maker, he told me he wouldn't have a standard violin available at BEMF—but he would have a piccolo violin. I have never even heard live, much less played, a piccolo violin, which is a small violin tuned a minor third higher than the standard violin and known primarily for its solo role in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. Still, since I've wanted for a while to try my hand at the instrument, I have been eagerly anticipating the opportunity for the last two months.

This afternoon I finally got to meet Beaulieu and try out the instrument. It was even smaller than I was expecting (body length approximately one-third less than a full-size violin), but strangely not as difficult to finger as I had feared. (No, my first few attempts were not exactly in tune, but gradually the pitches became recognizable!) And a comparison with the other violins I'll be playing showed that the piccolo violin should be able to hold its own alongside them—provided it can hold its own under the other performance conditions (namely, in a large church and with an organ). The final decision will have to wait, then, until our rehearsal on Thursday evening, but I'm hopeful.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Last evening we had the great pleasure of presenting our latest program, "Youth, Power, and Wisdom: Biber's Pictures of the Life of Christ," at Luther Memorial Church in Madison as a preview performance of our upcoming Fringe Concert at the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF). The program includes six of Biber's partitas on the Mysteries of the Rosary:

I. The Annunciation
IV. The Presentation
X. The Crucifixion
XI. The Resurrection
XII. The Ascension
XIII. The Descent of the Holy Spirit

(Thanks to Marika Fischer Hoyt for the photos.)

In Boston, the recital will double as a demonstration recital for luthiers displaying their work at the BEMF Exhibition. Edith has been working in advance with instruments by four of the luthiers—Warren Ellison, Gabriela Guadalajara, Timothy Johnson, and Daniel Larson—and is looking forward to meeting more makers and their instruments in the next few days!

Chappy will also be doing an instrument demonstration of sorts: his instrument in Boston will be a new continuo organ by A. David Moore of Vermont (Moore, however, is not exhibiting at BEMF).

This was our first time performing a full recital with our colleague and friend Philip Spray on violone. What fun to play "The Ascension" at last with the proper instrument for the violone solo marked in the "Aria Tubicinum"!

We leave tomorrow for Boston and will keep you updated throughout the week. If you'll be at BEMF, we hope to see you at our recital: Friday, June 14, at 9:00 a.m. at First Lutheran Church.

On Hiatus!

For the present time ENSEMBLE SDG is on a performance hiatus. Keep in touch, enjoy our Bach recording (see arabesque records.com) and keep and eye on this site!

Followers

John Chappell Stowe

John Chappell Stowe is Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at University of Wisconsin–Madison where he also co-directs the Collegium Musicum. Dr. Stowe holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and from Eastman School of Music.

Edith Hines

Edith Hines is a freelance violinist based in Akron, Ohio. In addition to Ensemble SDG she has performed with Ensemble Musical Offering, Bach Collegium Fort Wayne, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Hines holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, and University of Wisconsin–Madison. She studied modern violin with David Updegraff, Donald Weilerstein, and David Perry and has had coaching in historical performance from Julie Andrijeski, Robert Mealy, and others.